3 Reasons NOW Is The Best Time to Streamline Refinance Your Home

Welcome Back!

The holiday season is behind us, leaving a whirlwind of debt and financial uncertainty for most. January is a time for reflection; an introspective look into one’s own financial soul.

If you’ve been saying to yourself, ‘How can I save more money this year?‘, be prepared for your answer shortly as we delve into a few, solid reasons why now is the ultimate time to streamline refinance your home.

What is a Streamline Refinance?

A streamline refinance is a type of mortgage loan in which a homeowner could refinance into a lower interest rate without jumping through all of the hoops of a ‘regular’ loan. Some examples would include the FHA Streamline Refinance, the HARP 2 refinance program, as well as the VA Streamline refinance.These loans typically requires less documentation than a ‘normal’ refinance, and usually do not require an appraisal to be done on the home. This means that it doesn’t matter if you are upside-down on your mortgage!

Why NOW is the Best Time to Streamline Refinance

Property taxes in Florida were just paid!

Most mortgage loans now require that you ‘escrow’ (your taxes and insurance included in your mortgage payment). If an entire year’s worth of real estate taxes were due at the time you refinanced, the new bank would have to collect an entire year’s worth of taxes and add that to your closing costs. Since some (not all) streamline refinance loans won’t allow you to include all of the closing costs (namely the FHA Streamline), that could mean you would have to come out of pocket with thousands of dollars! But, since most the annual real estate taxes were already paid this year in Florida, you could very well accomplish a streamline refinance without any out-of-pocket expenses or money needed at closing!

Streamline Refinance rates are at or near record lows…right NOW!

Most refinancing homeowners are shaving a few percent off of their interest rates and more importantly, hundreds of dollars per month. If you are paying over 4.5% on your mortgage currently, you owe it to yourself to look into the Streamline Refinance.

The purchase market has slowed down!

Historically, the first few months of the year are the slowest for home purchases in Florida. It’s pretty simple, most people try to move in the break between school years. Because there is a lower demand for purchase mortgages (less homes sales = less loans needed), our processing times on streamline refinances are lightning fast right now! That means you could start saving money in as little as a few weeks.

That’s not even getting into the obvious benefits of saving a bunch of money every month, skipping a mortgage payment, and being able to get your home ‘right-side up’ by paying less towards interest and more towards the principle balance.

About the Author

Jason is a lifelong student of the mortgage industry that prides himself on his innovative ability to consistently find the best deals for his clients. With well over a decade of industry knowledge and experience, you can trust that he will help guide you in the right direction for your home financing needs. What separates Jason from everyone else is the fact that he cares so much about the people he helps, driving him to go above and beyond to make the dream of homeownership possible for all.

Jason Gonzalez, NMLS #314588, is a licensed mortgage originator in the State of Florida. Loan services may be provided by Innovative Mortgage Services, NMLS #250769 although the views expressed within this website are that of the individual author and not Innovative Mortgage.